375 WM vs 338LM.... I want to kick 338LM's butt

[TheWiking]

Hi all! New member from Norway in Europe here

A friend of mine has a .338 Lapua Mag, and is steady on at 1500- 2200 meters with this one.
I am looking into a new rifle myself, and would like to kick his butt with something bigger and at least equally good range caliber. My motto is "bigger is better", and I get quite a bit of pepper over this.

I drive a Chevrolet CrewCab K3500 pickup, while other shake their heads over me in their small Mitsubishi and Mazda Pickups

The 50 caliber is not allowed for sivil use over here, so I thought I'd look into a .375 Weatherby Magnum, as another friend of mine has a receiver and a barrel in this caliber that I can get for a very reasonable sum of money.
What do you guys and gals think? Am I way off here, or can I make it? Are there any good bullets in this caliber, and not those chunks of brass you normally think of when you hear .375? I reload all my rounds myself.
Thanks in advance!!

Regards
Roy

 

[barnesuser28]

you are going to be hard pressed to beat the 338 Lapua. but a 408 cheytac will do it for ya. it is not cheap to own or reload but it will beat the lapua for range.

 

[kc0pph]

Kirby Allen (a sponsor here) has a custom line of cartridges that he mfg's. I believe there is a 375-408CT that would probably kick the butt out of a LM. A LM sets the bar high for factory rifles but a skilled gunsmith can bring in a whole new definition for redicioulsness.

If you have some money you want to spend maybe a custom 50BMG-375, would be very powerful!!!

 

[Broz]

Maybe you hould just ask your friend for some shooting lessons?

JK

Jeff

 

[brentc]

You can always go for a bigger 338. Something like a 338/378 will increase the performance level over the Lapua.

 

[dakor]

I would look at the 375 Viersco Magnum. Here is the link to Dave Viers site.
VIERSCO.COM
If you click on the 375 VM Test Results tab it will list the information. Some of the data on the page 375gr Cutting Edge bullet, H-BMG 50 powder, 3300 fps, 9100 Foot pounds at the muzzle, 10 twist barrel 33.5" long, 3000 yds supersonic possible. There is not a 338 that is going to run with that and for sure not the Lapua. Another option is a 375 Ultra Mag and since Sierra has the 375 cal 350 SMK's on the press right now I am looking hard at the 375 RUM and that will out run the Lapua as well.

 

[jeff 300]

If you r just wanting a larger rifle then there r plenty out there. but if you r wanting to have a better group than your friend at 1500-2000 yards that's going to be a another story. This would start with a very well built and accurate rifle and your ability to shoot it. Just cause you have a larger rifle does not mine you r going to be able out shoot your friend. You could brag that your gun is larger than his and still get your but smoke by his 338 LM r even a smaller round.

To shoot well at 1000-2000 yards takes a hell of a lot more than a large rifle. mostly lot of trigger time and lots of well spent money. And i think the 375's r going to harder to shoot because of the bullets that r out there VS the one that r out there for the 338's.

The 338 have a lot better selection of bullets. I think you r going about this backwards You need to be able to shoot that distance first N MOST CAN"T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Broz]

If you r just wanting a larger rifle then there r plenty out there. but if you r wanting to have a better group than your friend at 1500-2000 yards that's going to be a another story. This would start with a very well built and accurate rifle and your ability to shoot it. Just cause you have a larger rifle does not mine you r going to be able out shoot your friend. You could brag that your gun is larger than his and still get your but smoke by his 338 LM r even a smaller round.

To shoot well at 1000-2000 yards takes a hell of a lot more than a large rifle. mostly lot of trigger time and lots of well spent money. And i think the 375's r going to harder to shoot because of the bullets that r out there VS the one that r out there for the 338's.

The 338 have a lot better selection of bullets. I think you r going about this backwards You need to be able to shoot that distance first N MOST CAN"T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well said, Thank You!

Jeff

 

[FUBAR]

I have a 375 Weatherby and the great thing is it shoots 375 H&H really well....I just keep a note book with my round work ups and the scope setting...

This allows me to tape a firing solution to the stock for different loads....plus you can almost always get 375 H$H ammo

It's cheaper to load it than my son's 338 Lapua, but I know that some don't like to fire form brass

I have read that some PH's won't allow a non-belted bolt gun set-up's for dangerous game....I'm sure it's not an issue for all.

My Weatrerby is more of a lightweight hunter, my son's Lapua is more of a bench gun, so I have never compared them apples to apples so to speak...

 

[kc0pph]

Kirby is going to be mad at you

He likes his big boomers.

Nothing wrong with a good group and good power... You do bring up a good point, 338 have better bc's.

Talk to Kirby he is probably the king of big boomers. Ask him what his accuracy of his rifles are out to 2k yards or so....

Shawn at Defensive Edge is another guy you might want to talk with for precision. I know he builds rifles that shoot out to 2200 yards. Trying to remember if he was hitting MOA or 2MOA sized targets at that range. (Search LRKM)

 

[Long Time Long Ranger]

If it is a wby mk 5 action you can build what you want on it. If the barrel is a 375 wby which is an improved 375 H&H it will not shoot long range with the 338 Lapua. Not enough powder capacity for the heavy, high bc 375 cal bullets available. If it is a 378 wby then it will outperform the 338 Lapua at long range. It has the powder capacity to shoot heavier bullets than the lapua with a high bc 150 fps faster than the 338 lapua. With the new high bc 375 cal bullets available the 375 will outperform the 338's at long range if you have enough powder capacity to push the heavier bullets. The 378 wby case has that capacity.

 

[HARPERC]

There's a 375 chey tec in the classifieds.

 

[TheWiking]

Thanx a lot folks!!
We are not allowed to shoot anything bigger than .400 caliber over here in Norway.
Thats why the .400+ calibers are out of the question.
I started to shoot at the age of 15, more than 30 years ago.
I've been shooting mostly 30.06 the last 10- 15 years, and have just recently began shooting really long range again.
I practice a lot in the snowy season with an air-rifle, indoors, in my attic (yes, air-rifle ) at 10 meters, and with my .22 at 15 meters. Good to have a long house
Otherwise I have shot .222, .223 and .308 Nato, but mostly I've been stuck with different 30.06's. Love that caliber.
BTW, all Norwegians are born with a shotgun...

My friends laugh at me and say I am crazy because of my (of-course-sarcastic) "bigger is better"-motto.
I started driving fullsize American cars after having a car accident 25 years ago where my car, a small european car, was totally wrecked and the Chevy Van I hit had to had its bumper replaced...
After that, I got this idea that "bigger is better", and it got kinda stuck to me

Anyways, I am not after a bigger gun/caliber just because it is bigger.
Here in Norway everyone says that 338 LM is as good as it gets, and some challenged me and said "you can never, ever do better with a bigger gun/caliber/cartridge than the 338 LM". (Keeping in mind that we have a national limitation at .400.)

My aim is therefore to show that, not necessarily with me behind it, a bigger gun/caliber/cartridge actually CAN kick the 338LM's butt, at the (more or less) same costs of course.
Any which way you put it, no rifle is better than the person that shoots it.
My friend with the .338LM at 2200 meters is a natural shooting talent, and I am just eager to show him that it is possible to push the .338LM off the throne.
Wether I am up for the task is an entirely different matter, but I have to give it a try... (for the record: I've never been further out than 600 meters...)

Thank you for all tips and links!! I'll check them out

In the meantime, I got a tip about a caliber called 338-375 WM. Never heard of it over here... Could that be it? I guess bullets would be easier to get as it obviously is a 338-bullet. Could this be a tad better than the 338 LM? The parent case would maybe be the 375 H&H...??? Anyone??

Thanks
Roy

 

[Long Time Long Ranger]

No, the 338-375 wby would not outperform the 338 lapua. It would be the same thing as a 340 wby. The 338-378 wby would outperform the lapua by 150-200 fps.